Our Girl - 27 Weeks (and a day)

How your baby's growing:

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

From (http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-27-weeks_1116.bc)

Abby Too Noisy

Yesterday Steve and I left Abby with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Scott for the day while we visited friends in Ann Arbor and headed to the Michigan basketball game. She had a great time. During her great time she was apparently pretty hilarious too.

For example, Abby headed to church with Grandma and Grandpa, but had to leave the service with Grandma because she was being too noisy. She apparently wasn't too happy about that and promptly asked to go back in to sit with grandpa. That idea got vetoed. Then Abby told the usher, our friend Mr. Koutz, that "Abby too noisy go back inside." I'm pretty sure he got just as big a laugh out of that as I did when we got back home. She also wouldn't go into the church's nursery because she thought the other kids were "weird."

On Saturday I scored a major find in the Abby bedding department. I love the Target "Simply Shabby Chic" line of bedding for kids, but had ruled it out because it tends to be pretty pricey. And with little girls we didn't want to invest too much money on bedding until they were old enough to choose for themselves and treat the bedding gently. Fortunately, I stumbled across a bed in a bag set (all the pieces you could possibly need or want) from that line on clearance. And there were two twin size sets. So... instead of buying the Disney sets from Wal-Mart and having to buy each piece seperately, Abby has really cute pale aqua and white bedding with flowers and butterflies for less than I would have spent to outfit her with any of the other potential sets. And she actually liked the bedding. Once we get it home and get our beds we will share pictures of her pretty princess room with you all.

And now... I should be going, since Abby is trying to put Grandma Mary's dogs in "time out" in their dog crates.

Who Taught You That?

We have been having the following conversation at our house all day:

Abby: "taught you that."

Me: "who taught you that?"

Abby: fill in the blank with a relative or friend. The score so far is Daddy 5, Grandma Lorraine 3, and Uncle Dan 2 with some other names randomly thrown in. You all probably don't want to know what she's claiming you taught her, since it mostly involves disgusting bodily functions and/or doing things she shouldn't like nose picking.

What a nut...

Dog Hugger

Checkup Part Two

Abby and I had to go back to the doctor's office this morning to get my rhogam shot (no fun!). While we were there they let me know that my blood sugar came back in the normal range, so I am going to survive this pregnancy without diabetes and without having to test my poor little fingers. Hooray!!!

We are packing for what will probably be our final trip before Baby O. arrives. We are going to visit Grandmas and Grandpas in Hastings from tomorrow until Tuesday afternoon, then heading to Ann Arbor for a class that Steve is taking on Wednesday. It should be fun and I know that Abby is very excited to see everyone (she already packed her bags). Speaking of that... I should get back to laundry so I can pack my bags. I only have about 7 shirts I can wear since I'm not a big fan of the bottom half of my belly sticking out and most of my shirts are now too short :-( I guess some shopping may be on the agenda for our trip.

Our Girl - 26 Weeks

If a full night's rest has become elusive, welcome to the (sleepless) world of pregnancy insomnia. Between heartburn and leg cramps, bathroom runs and that big beach ball beneath your nightie, it's no wonder your body's having trouble calming down and drifting off. But there are lots of tactics to try that should help keep you in bed (and asleep!) instead of pacing the floor; these include daytime exercise, a daily dose of fresh air, and limiting fluids before you hit the hay. What's up with your baby? She now weighs a full two pounds and measures nine-plus inches. And this week, her eyes, which until now were developing under fused eyelids, start to open. Of course, there's not much to see in there, but if your baby spots a bright light (or hears a loud noise) near your belly, you may notice an increase in fetal activity. (Hey, I'm in here, Mommy!)

from (http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/week-by-week/week-26.aspx)

We had a check-up today. Baby's heart rate was 138 and she was moving all around. Everything is right on track according to the doctor. We had the re-test for the glucose challenge test, so hopefully that will come back normal and the gestational diabetes will be a thing of my past :-)

Abby had a really fun afternoon playing with her best friends Autumn and Maddie. She didn't even cry when I dropped her off at Autumn's house and left. She is really growing up fast!

Frozen Fingers

Somehow I managed to get locked out of our house this morning. I'm not sure if Abby or Maize closed the locked door behind me or if I shut it myself. All I know is that I found myself outdoors with no keys or coat and wet hair this morning. Luckily I happened to have my cell phone in my pocket, so I was able to call Steve for help. After about 20 minutes he showed up to open the doors. I'm not sure his patient appreciated switching dentists midway through the procedure, but I'm pretty sure I would have frozen to death if I had to wait for him to finish his filling before he came to rescue me.

Abby, meanwhile, was enjoying her time in a parent-free zone. She was laughing and waving at me while I watched her through the french doors (thank God we have those!). I'm pretty sure this was all one big plot. First she had the world's stinkiest dirty diaper, which required immediate removal to the outdoor garbage can. Then she made sure I got stuck outside with the diaper. And she proceeded to pull out her ponytail, take off her shoes, and otherwise undo all the progress I had made toward taking a little girl to her playgroup. Maize, on the other hand, was freaking out. I think she realized how dangerous it could be to be trapped in the house with only Abby.

Needless to say, we now have multiple sets of extra keys outdoors. We had loaned our extra set to a friend who watched Maize in September while we traveled and hadn't gotten it back yet. But now there are many places where I can get a set of keys if I need them. So Abby is out of luck on locking me out.

I enjoyed my birthday yesterday, but got reminded again of why Steve and I don't even bother trying to watch grown-up movies or t.v. anymore. We put on a movie we had wanted to see (we knew it had very little if any swearing and only a little violence, which Abby doesn't notice because she only listens and doesn't watch most of the time). We didn't get to watch much - first it was "color with Abby" and then it was Mr. Potato Head time, then it was "read Abby book." I think we ended up pausing the movie about 20 times. And we had both read the book the movie is based on, so although we liked the movie, we thought that the book was much better and knowing the story ahead of time made the movie less interesting. Don't act all surprised - I have gotten Steve to read some books for pleasure. I know it seems like a stretch, but he really has been reading more.

Happy Birthday to Mom

I got an early morning wake up from Abby this morning. Not really the world's most wonderful "happy birthday," but from Abby I will take an early morning wake up call. Abby ended up snuggling with us from 3:30 a.m. on. I'm pretty sure she is having some of the same sinus and congestion issues Steve and I are having and just can't vocalize it.

I'm celebrating my birthday by doing a dinner make-ahead marathon. So far I've done beef and bean enchiladas and turkey alfredo. Abby has been helping me and standing on her "helper stool" watching me cook. She should be well versed in cooking by the time she is old enough to actually use the stove. Unfortunately, while I was in the middle of my cook off I realized that everything I had made so far would be banned if I test positive for diabetes again on Wednesday (actually, it would be the next week since I'd have to fail both tests before I got the label back). So, I'm hoping all my cooking ahead for weeks when I am tired isn't in vain. But if it is, then I guess I'll have a lot of cooking done for when Baby Sister arrives.

And... by the way, there are only 100 days until her due date. That means only about 93 days until the c-section and only about 4 weeks until we see the surgeon and hopefully set the c-section date. Abby is getting excited to meet her little sister and I am very excited to get this pregnancy behind me and my aching back :-)

Singing in the Tub

This is Abby's second version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. It has a few more words than her last version had :-)

New Year, New Underpants

Abby is starting out the new year by trying out big girl underpants for the first time. So far we've made it one hour without an accident, which is actually about 45 minutes longer than I thought we'd make it. She just plain refused to put a diaper on, so we figured it would be a good time for her to learn that going potty in underpants in not the same as going in a diaper. This way she will either potty train quickly or agree to put her diapers on without a fuss. A win either way in my book right now.

We are ringing in the new year with a little living room clean up and a lot of resting. I think I started out with a cold, but probably now have a great big fun sinus infection. Since I have to see the doctor on Wednesday next week for my regular appointment I am going to try to tough it out, but it's been a rough day. I had been just dealing with nighttime breathing trouble and congestion, but I now have all day issues along with sore teeth, a headache, and overall blah feeling. Oh the joys of pregnancy and the inability to hit up the medicine cabinet.

Abby was very good at the New Year's party we went to last night, although she did fall asleep around 11:30 and missed the ball drop (but then again, so did the rest of us since we were playing a board game). Abby has been getting braver and braver around people and actually played a little with her babysitter Kitty at the party. She also demolished almost an entire red pepper and probably a pound of veggie dip. She sure loves her condiments. And, to make my day a little better, she slept in until 10 a.m. this morning after her late night escapades.